Background

Tranmere's manager Micky Mellon had led Tranmere to promotion to League Two the previous season.

Tranmere had last played in the third tier of English football in 2014 while Newport had never played at that level.^[5] Tranmere were making their first appearance in a fourth tier play-off final, but had featured in the Football League Third Division play-offs twice, losing the 1990 final 2–0 to Notts County and winning the following year's final 1–0 against Bolton Wanderers in extra time.^[7] Having been promoted into the EFL through the 2018 National League play-off final, Tranmere were aiming to win back-to-back promotions.^[8] Newport had been promoted to the EFL for the first time in their history when they won the 2013 Conference Premier play-off final 2–0 against Wrexham.^[9] Coming into the final, Newport had gone on an unbeaten 12-match run while Tranmere had failed to win any of their last four games.^[10] Tranmere's squad included Norwood, League Two's Golden Boot winner with 29 goals, and goalkeeper Scott Davies, the league's Golden Glove winner.^[2][10] Amond and Matt had scored 43 goals in all competitions during the season for Newport.^[2][11]

During the regular season, Newport had won 1–0 against Tranmere at Prenton Park in September 2018 and both clubs played out a goalless draw the following April.^[12] The referee for the match was Ross Joyce, assisted by Nik Barnard and Rob Smith, with Eddie Ilderton acting as the fourth official and Matthew Lee the reserve assistant referee.^[10] Neither team were changed from their play-off semi-final second legs, with Newport's Jamille Matt recovering from a leg injury.^[11] There was no clear favourite to win with different bookmakers supporting both Tranmere and Newport.^[13][14] Newport manager Michael Flynn noted prior to the game that there was "a lot of experience between the two squads at Wembley, which is quite surreal for League Two players. They have got a few good players – it is not just about James Norwood. We have to concentrate on what we can do as well."^[11] His counterpart, Micky Mellon, said: "First and foremost we just want to get the performance right and hopefully that will be enough to help us to the next level. I think the experience of being here before will definitely help us but we still have to give the performance. We have to go and express ourselves. It should be a good battle."^[11] Both English and Welsh national anthems were performed by soprano Emily Haig.^[11] Newport played in their traditional amber and black kit while Tranmere wore their white and blue home strip.^[15]

First half

Newport kicked the match off in front of a Wembley Stadium crowd of 25,217 at around 3 p.m. in sunny conditions and a temperature of 22 °C (72 °F). Inside a minute, Matt's header from a Mickey Demetriou long throw was off target for Newport. In the seventh minute, a 30-yard (27 m) shot from Tranmere's Connor Jennings was saved by Day in the Newport goal. Sid Nelson then handled the ball and the resulting free kick was flicked on by Amond with Matt narrowly missing the ball at the far post. Three minutes later Jennings' curling shot went over the Newport goal. In the 16th minute, a long-range strike from Scot Bennett flew over Tranmere's crossbar. Midway through the half, David Perkins sent a ball through for the overlapping defender Jake Caprice who crossed to Norwood. The Tranmere striker struck a first time volley which was saved by Day, before the teams took their first-half drinks break. On 31 minutes, Nelson hesitated in defence and conceded which was almost converted by Mark O'Brien at the far post after Newport had made an initial clearance.^[11][15] With less than ten minutes of the half remaining, Day saved a low Perkins strike from around 20 yards (18 m).^[11][16] In the 43rd minute, Perkins broke from midfield for Tranmere and passed to Harris whose cross was headed over the Newport goal by Norwood, and the half ended goalless.^[16][17]

Second half

Connor Jennings (pictured in 2012) scored the only goal of the game.

No changes were made by either side during the half-time interval and Tranmere kicked off the second half. In the 50th minute, Willmott's pass found Josh Sheehan whose shot was blocked by Monthe and Nelson. Three minutes later, Tranmere made the first substitution of the match, with Ben Pringle coming on to replace Harris. In the 55th minute, Matt received the first yellow card of the game for impeding the Tranmere goalkeeper Davies as he tried to release the ball early after saving a Dan Butler free kick. A minute later Day tipped a high cross from Pringle over the bar. Joss Labadie then shot wide for Newport before Tranmere's Liam Ridehalgh saw his free kick strike the defensive wall and cleared.^[16][17] In the 67th minute, O'Brien received the second yellow card of the game after a foul on Jennings. Soon after, Kieron Morris was brought down by Butler in the Newport box but the referee waved away the penalty appeals. In the 72nd minute, Newport made their first substitution of the match with Matthew Dolan coming on to replace Labadie. Two minutes later a cross from Butler was allowed to bounce in the Tranmere penalty area but Matt's low header was tipped onto the post by Davies. Perkins was then booked for a push on Newport's Dolan before Steve McNulty replaced Morris in Tranmere's second substitution of the game.^[17][18] With four minutes remaining, Monthe was brought down by Matt in the Tranmere penalty area but no penalty was awarded. In the last minute of regular time, Newport were reduced to ten men: O'Brien clashed with Norwood, and the Newport captain was sent off for a second yellow card. Three minutes into injury time, Banks played in Norwood but his shot was wide.^[18][19] After five minutes of added time, the second half was brought to an end, still goalless, forcing the match into extra time.^[19][20]

Extra time

Tyreeq Bakinson became Newport's third substitute when he came on to replace Sheehan at the start of the first period of extra time. In a half of few chances, Tranmere's appeal for a penalty was denied with five minutes remaining when Norwood was brought down by Demetriou. Three minutes later, Newport made their third substitution with Matt being replaced by Azeez. A minute later, Davies made a comfortable save from a Willmott header and a subsequent chance from Amond. After a minute of injury time, the half was brought to an end with the score remaining 0–0. Before the start of the second half of extra time, Newport made their fourth and final substitution, Keanu Marsh-Brown coming on for Willmott. Within a minute of his introduction, Marsh-Brown's shot was saved by Davies. Norwood then went close, denied once again by Davies, before Banks' free kick was struck high over the Newport crossbar.^[19][20] Two minutes later, Poole's foul on Jennings earned him a yellow card. In the 115th minute, Tranmere made their third substitution, with Adam Buxton coming on to replace Nelson. With three minutes of regular extra time remaining, Norwood's header from a Banks cross was saved by Day. In the 119th minute, the deadlock was broken as Tranmere took the lead through Jennings. Buxton beat Bakinson to create space and sent Caprice down the right wing. His cross to the back post went beyond Norwood but the unmarked Jennings headed the ball past Day to make it 1–0 to Tranmere. Two minutes of injury time were played during which Newport had a free kick which came to nothing, and the match ended with Tranmere victorious, winning back-to-back promotions.^[19][21]

Details

25 May 2019 (2019-05-25)

15:00 BST (UTC+1)

Newport County	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Tranmere Rovers
	[22]	Jennings 119'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 25,217

Referee: Ross Joyce

Newport County

Tranmere Rovers

GK 1 Joe Day CB 26 Regan Poole  112' CB 25 Mark O'Brien (c)  67'  89' CB 28 Mickey Demetriou RM 7 Robbie Willmott  105' CM 4 Joss Labadie  72' CM 17 Scot Bennett LM 3 Dan Butler AM 16 Josh Sheehan  90' CF 9 Pádraig Amond CF 11 Jamille Matt  55'  103' Substitutes: DF 2 David Pipe MF 8 Matt Dolan  72' MF 10 Keanu Marsh-Brown  105' MF 15 Tyreeq Bakinson  103' MF 22 Andrew Crofts  90' FW 14 Ade Azeez FW 27 Harry McKirdy Manager: Michael Flynn

GK 1 Scott Davies (c) RB 14 Jake Caprice CB 4 Sid Nelson  115' CB 6 Manny Monthé LB 3 Liam Ridehalgh DM 17 David Perkins  77' DM 8 Jay Harris  53' RM 19 Kieron Morris  82' LM 11 Connor Jennings AM 28 Ollie Banks CF 10 James Norwood Substitutes GK 25 Luke Pilling DF 2 Adam Buxton  115' DF 5 Steve McNulty  82' MF 22 Harvey Gilmour MF 27 Ben Pringle  53' FW 9 Paul Mullin FW 29 Chris Dagnall Manager: Micky Mellon